Achievement is for suckers

Hip-Hop is the music of lower class black people, but what happens when most black people are no longer lower class, at least in terms of their socioeconomic status?

It used to be the case that the vast majority of black people worked shitty jobs and lived in awful neighborhoods and dreamt of the day when they might escape such a meager existence, but, increasingly, that isn’t really the case anymore, now is it? These days, more black people than many of us would like to think are solidly middle class, if not upper middle class and beyond.

But if you notice, most hip-hop these days is still a product of the black lower class. I suppose in that sense it’s no suprise that hip-hop has experienced such a creative downturn in the past 10 years or so. So much of today’s hip-hop is created by the kind of people who were left behind in America’s ghettos, like so many Katrina refugees, when the most capable among us seized upon the opportunities created by the civil rights movement and what have you.

Hence our current state of minstrel rap uber alles.

I bring all this up because I recently came across an article that deals with a lot of these issues, and it got me to thinking. In an op-ed in the Washington Post, a fellow named Thomas Chatterton Williams (I know) suggests that hip-hop culture, and not white racism, is the most formidable obstacle to success and equality in the black middle class.

The argument goes that the children of the black middle class seek to emulate the values of the black lower class put forth in today’s hip-hop culture, and that’s why so many of them are failing in education, and, subsequently, in life. Which is especially unfortunate, since so many of these effin’ idiots have the means to do so much, and yet instead they purposely choose to do so very little.

But, on the other hand, you can see why so many of today’s youth are so tempted to emulate their favorite rap videos. If there’s one thing my tenure here at XXL has proven, other than the general lack of reading comprehension skills in the hip-hop community, it’s that no one likes a black guy with a “white” values system. I’ll admit: I’ve often considered honing my own blaccent so that I might make it with the kind of (increasingly phat-assed) white chicks who live to score with thugged out black dudes.

In the WaPo op-ed Thomas Chatterton Williams cites the infamous Harvard University study which revealed that high-achieving black kids tend to be socially ostracized in school, where as their high-achieving white counterparts “are at the top of the popularity pyramid.” I remember reading about this a few years ago and wondering how true that was, really. Perhaps fortunately, I was never really in a position to find out one way or the other.

What do you ‘bags think? Is Harvard University making this shit up, or do reasonably well-off black kids purposely underachieve so as to get some pussy? Both?

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Rizzop

These studies only tell the stories of the people whos cases were actually studied. Not everyone goes to the same schools, and deal with the same people/situations in life. In that same breath, some parents reinforce education as being important more than others. The “rap/hip-hop” music that is being but out today is being pushed to us as it is authentic and the younger generation is fooled into thinking that shit is hot, but thats for another day. In both all economics and race both play factors in this depending on how you get fucked over on that particular day, but its up to us to find ways around that. And fuck all that im in boston right now and nobody from harvard came to my hood to ask me shit, so when they did that study, no black folks i knew were involved. Please dont be fooled when these folks say a “study” was taken about anything that has to do with black folks, cuz all they do is hang a flyer up somewhere and promise to feed you and give you 20 bucks for your time, and the hard working, baby having, school attending so called “middle-class” (bullshit) aint got time for that shit.

James

I was one of those kids that grew up with two parents. I was fortunate in that sense. But it was a trip b/c I was the only black kid in my catholic school from grades 1-6 who actually had both parents. Believe it or not, I was ridiculed for it. It seems that if you’re not from the ghetto, a single parent home, or something else that is usually a deficit, you’re not “black enough”. Blacks pointed to lily white kids and said they were “more black” than me… which usually meant that they were in more trouble with the teachers than me, cursed more than me, or had worse grades. It’s like the negative things that we’ve been stereotyped as being became badges of honor! Like being f’ed up is what makes being black so great… I didn’t get it then, and I don’t get it now… but that study from Harvard carries weight with me.

i think it was said best in White Men Cant Jump…….
Black poeple woould rather look good and lose then look bad and win. It is not “cool” to be a good student or come from a solid home life….its praised in the ghetto to be a thug….Its a shame….its that type of thought process that leads to the alarming and steadily increasing rate of black criminals in the correctional system. Chris rock said “in the ghetto, you get more respect coming out of jail then you do coming out of college”…..that is real talk.

R

I read the same WaPo op-ed, and having grown up in a white upper-middle class environment, I’m not convinced. Sure my experience is anecdotal at best but the smartest white kids we’re never at the top of the popularity pyramid, more like the top of the kids made fun of and excluded by the popular kids pyramid. But there are significant differences. Many wealthy white kids emulate hip-hop but just the clothing and to some extent the language. Maybe they take up weed or something but they know they better go to college. A lot of kids of color didn’t have that expectation, but a lot of those kids weren’t particularly wealthy despite living in a wealthy area. Most students of color from wealthy backgrounds in my experience did well in school and pursued higher education. Common thread: $ and usually educational achievement by their parents. Some get sucked into the “I gotta be ghetto to be black/latino/cool/etc.” but most don’t. That being said, there’s no real reason for the poorer kids in that environment to get sucked into that either, but they do. Hard to find your identity as a teenager and unfortunately too many young kids make a poor choice. As more blacks move into the middle and upper middle class that will change. It’s still early, too early to judge the results, and way too early to start a class war within a racial group that hasn’t gotten far enough to be able to afford that.

Moe Real

You yourself are an underachieving, reasonably well-off black kid, so why are you underachieving, Bol?

I would include Billy X. Smalldick in this underachieving shit, but he’s nearing 40 years-old. He has no excuse.

http://searching4myswagger.blogspot.com get fresh

I know how much you hate Lupe but I think the basis of his next record The Cool, is exactly what they are talking about. Alot of black (and white) kids are chasing The Cool. They just want to be looked at as “Cool” and being smart is not “cool”. Especially in the black community. This same mentality has manifested itself in hip hop. Why do you think Hov said “I dumb downed for my audience, to double my dollars”..

Moe Real

“make it with the kind of (increasingly phat-assed) white chicks who live to score with thugged out black dudes”

There are thousands of these women in Canada. No Tara Henley.

Bibs

well, looking at support, you get further in life with a sad story than good one. In the hood, it seems all the best scholarships are for the recovered not the smart.

http://www.xxlmag.com EReal

IMO, The public perception is part of it too. The public wants to look at every black male as a rapper and every black female as a groupie / video hoe. People dont understand when Black people dont fall into this stereotypical view of what blackness is. Maybe thats why the highest government officials are always lightskinned. Ever notice that? Colin Powell, Barak, Condi, all lightskinned. Now, Im not saying thats definitivley true. But its interesting.
I see cats on both sides of the fence. I used to have this friend Mike. Everyone always called him White Mike. But he was black. The called him that because he spoke clearly and consice. He was intellignet, well off, and doing great things. See what Im sayin?
Ive also seen kids that have amazing opportunites and futures get caught up in some seriously stupid shit tryina act gangsta. Why they do it, I dont know.
Of course, for Sloth, it always comes down to the holy of holies, the pink toe. Maybe thats true, but I have seen it. Its like the kids feel like they are EXPECTED to be this way and they are just giving people what they want. Everyone in some form at some time in their life has tried to fit in, has wanted to be accepted. If people will accept them because they downplay their socio-economic status, then most times they probably will.

Very interesting drop Byron. Substance, finally. This is how all your drops used to be. Im not gonna hit you with the Sloth today. LOL.

1 hunned.

yung buc

the ironic thing is, one of the easiest places for a jig to get pussy is in college. the ratio, last i heard, is something like 3 to 1 black women to black men enrolled in US colleges and universities. if you can’t get pussy with those odds, you’re probably gay and just don’t know it yet. and these are the type of black women who generally take care of themselves, can hold a conversation, and *usually* don’t have kids. some of them even have a little money.

of course, if the high-achieving black woman just isn’t your thing, there are always plenty of slutty white chicks to bang.

http://xxl q-buro

i love you bol, i wanna have your baby

The DJ Formerly Known as N-CREDIBLE

Bol you should have named the post:
ACHEIVMENT COMES THROUGH BEING A HUMBLE NEGROE

What type of acheivments are you speaking of here?

Gaining knowledge
Opening a business
Owning real estate

or

Getting a diploma from Massa
Working for Massa

So many kids don’t do well in school because of the parents lack of involvement in the childs life, NOT HIP HOP.

I wonder why a majority of hip hop comes from people from the hood…maybe because if you aint experience ish you dont know ish…

“Hip-Hop is the music of lower class black people, but what happens when most black people are no longer lower class, at least in terms of their socioeconomic status?”

Wow, are you that clueless about the black plight?
In every state and city there is a black side and a white side. All of the economic developement goes into the white side of town. Do you know how poor people are. Combine that with this insane inflation of consumer goods. Are you that oblivious?

Remember this BOL, no matter how much education you get, no matter how much money you get, no matter how much you kiss white folks azz, you still a nigga.

BYGGZ

Hmmmmm…..First of all,I’m from the south.I am a 70′s baby and I have love for all genres of rap.I do agree that a lot of southern rap is borderline coonish and buffoonish,but I’m growing tired of the constant dissing from the so-called birthplace of rap(i.e.the East Coast and die-hard fans of East Coast rap).It’s the pot calling the kettle black,sort of speak.All of rap is a fucking joke to me,no matter what locale it’s coming from,man!Today’s shit is just fucking garbage from The Dipset,G-Unit,and MIMS,to Yung Joc,D4L,all that shit is trash to me,let’s get that straight because I see a lot of i-thugs on this website and others (sohh,for example)who equate minstrel rap with the south’s so-called reign over hip-hop right now.But I hate to say that this asshole from The Post is right,but he is.But I would ask that loser this question that he probably didn’t ask himself or challenge his readers—-is Hip-Hop the culprit or is it the powers that be?It’s wild to see how muthafuckas like Imus use rap as a fucking scapegoat for all of society’s ills but I don’t see any company or brands who has used rap to gain profit cease and desist their use of it either(i.e. Iovine and Interscope records).See,I’m a realist—we live in a society that follows trends,and that’s the fucking truth.Society has made it “cool” to be a thug,whites use thug dialect on the regular,hey-it’s cool to be uneducated,high and thugged-out!But unlike those of the Caucasian persuasion,we don’t have the option of turning the hood-switch on and off.They use hip-hop for an escape,for most of us,it’s all we got.

KLETEWOOD

Chris rock said “in the ghetto, you get more respect coming out of jail then you do coming out of college”…..that is real talk.

NICE POST!

MOST OF US ARE ON THE GRIND. POSTED UP ON THE TURF. MARRIED TO THE GAME!

DIPPED IN SAUCE>>>>YADAMEAN

chronic

This is so fucking true. In my high school theres many kids who early in school were good students but the more and more they listened and emulated these rap artists, they started to slip. They spend the night before a test smoking a blunt and lacing there sneakers up right for the looks instead of studying. It’s so stupid. Thats whats fucking the black youth up. This whole, “Brown Paper Bag” bullshit makes these kids think it’s cool to sell drugs and then get locked up. They don’t need to sell drugscuz there parents pay for shit but they sell drugs so they can get the bigger and better clothes to be more popular and get more pussy because the smart black kid is a nerd. They act like you must be ignorant, and complain about school when they have every oppurtunity in front of them. I hate to say it but, I’m one of them

morguemindeduno

BYGGZ Says
^^^^^^^
co-sign.bullet!!bullet!

http://xxlmag.com Bol

>You yourself are an underachieving, reasonably well-off black kid, so why are you underachieving, Bol?

It’s because I’d rather look good and lose than look bad and win.

http://www.plasticsquirtguns.blogspot.com thoreauly77

hmmm. interesting question bol. all of my black friends have always been really smart dudes, some of them high achievers in school, others not so much; either way though, they all still got laid — by white girls! but then again, all of my friends are pretty damn smart so i probably have a skewed perception. for me growing up in my adolescent years in the military, the race issue didn’t even exist for most of us because we were all middle class air force brats.

but again, that was the nature of my reality, so i can’t accurately speak on anyone else’s behalf.

on a side-note, my best friend jeremy always used to clown me for listening to hip-hop more/as much as punk, me being white and him being black, so who knows eh?

these posts are racist

Your post is not true. Black people are less well off, econmically, then they were in the 60′s.

Census data (1968-1995) shows the gap between rich and poor has increased significantly in both white and black America. In addition, other statistics reveal that since 1980 the size of the black underclass has tripled. Moroever, in fact the black middle class has been steadily declining since 1970.

In 1980, the typical black school student attended a public school that was 36.2% white.
In 1996, the typical black school student attended a public school that was 33.9% white. (Harvard Graduate School of Education)

The percentage of 18-to 24-year old blacks who had completed high school in 1975: 64.8%.
In 1995: 76.9%.
(U.S. Dept of Education)

The percentage of 18- to 24-year old blacks who were enrolled in college in 1975: 20.7%.
In 1995: 27.3%

The number of black men enrolled in higher education in 1995: 556,000

The number of black men incarcerated in federal or state prison or local jails in 1995 : 711,600

The chance that a black man in the U.S. will spend some time in a state or federal prison during his lifetime: 28.5%
The chance that a white man in the U.S. will spend some time in a state or federal prsion during his lifetime: 2.5%

This is a myth that only people who are not from a ghetto would believe.

Anon

They use hip-hop for an escape,for most of us,it’s all we got.

^BYGGZ,
YOU CAN NOT BE FOR REAL. I BELIEVE “most uf us” have way more than hip-hop.

smog

first
there is a difference between street and thug
second
just cuase black people in jeapordy dont mean its they fault
whut

Chad Biggz

Its cool to be dumb and shit when you in your teens and early 20s. The females love it. Then once you been to jail a few times you wanna clean your act up. Now you can’t find a good job. So you become a ball sucker or a wack ass rapper. Either way your not respected. Girls like the bad boy until the bad boy turns from Diddy to Ike Turner on your ass. Guys greatest obstucle in life are females. Females greatest obstucle is material. We as guys try to be cool and have them dumbed out 26 inch rims to get the girl. Not until we are old and out of time do we try to get our shit together. Real ladies like a real man. Not a boy whose into toys. We will grow as people, I’m 23. Prolly won’t happen in my life time. Education is key. If your a person of color. Its a bunch of damn keys.

DirtDoggy

I agree with this one Boly-ass-Ball-less, but as you know ” it’s not what you know but who you know ” and that is true from the ghetto to Hollywood to the government, there’s not enough good jobs for everyone, in reality minimum wage should be at lest $20/h, fuck, dudes got full time jobs and still need welfare just to get by, the world is over populated just like the rap game, that’s why rap is going downhill, it’s not “rare” anymore every kid and there cousins think they can rap and every word and combination of words has been used, it would have been nice to rap in 92 when there were 100 rappers and every word and combo in the dictionary still available to spit.

Chad Biggz

BYGGZ said
“they use hip hop as a escape, for some its, that’s all we got” (I’m on my sidekick I can’t copy & paste)

THAT WAS SOME DUMB STUPID SHIT. THAT BOL IS TALKIN ABOUT. ME AND MY BROTHER GREW UP WIT IN THE SAME HOUSE. HAD THE SAME CHANCE. HE DID 12 IN THE BOX. I HAVE MY DEGREE. YOU SMART DUMB NIGGA WATCH TOO MUCH TV AND THINK THIS LIFE SHIT IS A FUCKIN VIDEO. THE PRETTY BITCH IN THE VIDEO FUCKIN SOME NIGGA MAKIN MONEY…REAL MONEY OR HAVE A GOOD JOB. BITCHES WANNA A NIGGA WIT BENEFITS. YEAH I KNOW, I KNOW. I’M MAKING CHEESE LIKE ITS ON A SANDWICH. YOU CAN’T RETIRE FOR THE DOPE GAME. I’M GOING SEE MY GRANDKIDS GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE AS LONG AS I DON’T GET KILLED BY THE COPS OR SOME DUMB FUCK SHOOTIN UP THE CLUB WHILE I’M TWO STEPPIN. YALL PISS ME OFF!

You don’t have to be playin ball or makin these white ppl dance to be successful. Yall give up and blame the white men for shit. You either play the game or get out. You don’t gotta get up and be gang banging on bacon nigga. Shout out to Katt Williams

http://www.plasticsquirtguns.blogspot.com thoreauly77

“Remember this BOL, no matter how much education you get, no matter how much money you get, no matter how much you kiss white folks azz, you still a nigga.”

Nine out of every ten Black Americans who reach age 75 spend at least one of their adult years in poverty (Cornell University, Washington University, 1999).

The poverty rate for Black Americans is three times the rate for White Americans (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).

In 1999, median family income for Black Americans was still only $31,778, compared to $51,244 for Whites.

From 1989 to 1998, Black American middle class families logged an average of 4,278 hours of work per year – almost 500 more hours per year than White families.

In 1999, unemployment for Black Americans was 8%, compared to 3.7% for Whites.

Fewer than half (46%) of Black American households own their own homes, compared to the national average of 72% (Changing America, 1999).

Black American men earn 71 cents for every dollar earned by their White counterparts.

Unemployment rates for Black American youths are three times higher than the national average.

http://www.plasticsquirtguns.blogspot.com thoreauly77

“Your post is not true. Black people are less well off, econmically, then they were in the 60’s.”

– wouldn’t this support bol’s argument?

Danny

Is Harvard University making this shit up, or do reasonably well-off black kids purposely underachieve so as to get some pussy? Both?

^^^^
Imma be honest excluding myself, all my friends are just str8 lazy! They think that by sitting around all day something will fall on there lap.

You gotta go get what you want, cuz if you don’t get it than no one will give it to you!

Unless of course your some rich kid, which in that case you might get everything you want with out much work but you will never appreciate it like some one who worked there ass of for it…

and that’s real talk…

Ya dig??

Juice

Anti-intellectualism is hardly a Black phenomenon; it is endemic to American culture.

There are more lower-class Blacks (percentage wise) then any other race. Black’s haven’t come close to surpassing poverty in America, like Bol makes it seem.

What Bol is trying to claim, is that external-casual factors are non existent, and that this is all a result of a Black obsession with crime and drugs, yet if that was the case, why is it that none of this is going on in rich neighborhoods? So while the majority of our young ones end up in jail or on the corner selling death to other Black people, people like you wash their hands of them. For fear that they’ll lose what they’ve gotten, so many of our educated never speak up against the oppression which is so prevalent in America. They look on television at poor Black teens turning to the corner, selling drugs. They see these images. They know that this is happening in low-income area’s and low-income area’s alone. But they ignore that. They know a capitalistic, democratic, monstrosity of a system is causing this. But they ignore that. They would rather be safe in their positions, then help their people as a whole. Bol is ill-informed on the critical and complex issues that shape people’s lives.

thatwhitedude

The DJ Formerly Known as N-CREDIBLE Says:
June 15th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
“Remember this BOL, no matter how much education you get, no matter how much money you get, no matter how much you kiss white folks azz, you still a nigga.”
^^^^^^^^
Keep thinking like this and you’ll always be a nigga with no education and no money.

And its funny how the first person commenting basically says the studies are BS cause they don’t have accurate data, then one of the most recent comments is basically a cut and paste job of census data haha. Although the census is from more than 10 yrs ago so the data basically doesn’t mean shit now.

Main thing is, Bol and this Harvard study (one of the top schools in the world mind you, I doubt their study is as BS as yall would LOVE to think) make a lot of good points, but like all things that point out that black people have themselves to blame more than “the system”, black people will just ignore it and call it BS cause they don’t want to accept the fact that one of the biggest things holding them back nowadays is themselves and their whole “identity” as a race, including hip-hop.

http://xxlmag.com Bol

TPAR is full of shit:

The black middle class, as defined by education, occupation, and income, is primarily a post-1960s development. Prior to the 1960s, because of racial discrimination, segregation, and the fact that most blacks lived in the rural South, African Americans experienced a limited opportunity structure.

[...]

Black median household income in 1997 was $25,050. That income level placed about 40 percent of black households in the middle class, compared with about 60 percent of white households. This proportion had almost doubled since 1960. The black middle class grew at a faster rate than the white middle class in that period, increasing from about 40 to 60 percent.

First of all, the “smart kid” is never in the upper echelon of the popularity hierarchy, no matter what community you’re in. There are always people that will write them off as “nerds”, “teacher’s pets”, etc. Being smart is not celebrated in our society…being “cool” is…meaning having the “right” look, the “right” clothes, and only having enough intellegence to carry a conversation about who’s got the “right” look and the “right” clothes. This is across the board…so those folks at Harvard are off their rocker!

As far as black people being predominantly middle class…I don’t know about that. I mean, even if that were the case (which, despite not having any data handy, I HIGHLY doubt it is), it doesn’t change the fact that the ghettos are still almost all black (and latino). It might be the case that the more “intellegent” black kids are now growing up in more middle class neighborhoods rather than in the hood, therefore there being fewer Nas’s in the hood and more wack-ass Young Jeezy’s. But hip hop, in it’s inception, was described as the voice of the poor, black and disenfranchised. Not only is that still how it’s viewed today…that’s how it’s MARKETED. In that sense, Bol brings up an interesting point. Maybe it’s not that skilled MC’s from the hood are being ignored…maybe it’s just that there are actually fewer skilled MC’s in the hood. Maybe the nicer of the MC’s that 15 years ago would’ve grown up in Queensbridge or the South Bronx are now growing up in better neighborhoods. And the hood isn’t gonna wanna hear somebody with Nas’s skills if they grew up in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. They’re gonna wanna hear a Juelz Santana from Harlem, just cuz he’s from Harlem. And with that shift in demographics comes new marketing plans…”nobody’s gonna go for this Saigon guy…let’s push that D4L project.”

Hip hop has always been viewed as the voice of those who society has left behind. Well…maybe now it has become the voice of those still left behind out of those originally left behind.

http://www.trincoll.edu Anonymous

I actually agree with Bol. Black students from middle to upper class backgrounds attempt to dumb themselves down in order to conform to hip hop culture. In hip hop culture doing well in school isn’t even mentioned. Its all about getting girls and defending your masculinity. Its a problem that may lead to the demise of black leadership and growth. If our leaders are percieved as hip hop “stars” that invoke these academic problems for students how can we grow as a people with a degraded social atmosphere.

Nine out of every ten Black Americans who reach age 75 spend at least one of their adult years in poverty (Cornell University, Washington University, 1999).

The poverty rate for Black Americans is three times the rate for White Americans (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).

In 1999, median family income for Black Americans was still only $31,778, compared to $51,244 for Whites.

From 1989 to 1998, Black American middle class families logged an average of 4,278 hours of work per year – almost 500 more hours per year than White families.

In 1999, unemployment for Black Americans was 8%, compared to 3.7% for Whites.

Fewer than half (46%) of Black American households own their own homes, compared to the national average of 72% (Changing America, 1999).

Black American men earn 71 cents for every dollar earned by their White counterparts.

Unemployment rates for Black American youths are three times higher than the national average.

^^^^^^^^^
Bol Says:

June 15th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
TPAR is full of shit:

The black middle class, as defined by education, occupation, and income, is primarily a post-1960s development. Prior to the 1960s, because of racial discrimination, segregation, and the fact that most blacks lived in the rural South, African Americans experienced a limited opportunity structure.

[…]

Black median household income in 1997 was $25,050. That income level placed about 40 percent of black households in the middle class, compared with about 60 percent of white households. This proportion had almost doubled since 1960. The black middle class grew at a faster rate than the white middle class in that period, increasing from about 40 to 60 percent.

Everything is true, also explains why black women are so much more successful because they can get away with being smart as long as they’re attractive. Dudes will like them and pay them attention if they look good, so being smart doesn’t hurt them socially.

Incilin

This is one of the most interesting blogs you’ve written. I wrote that the other day your blogs on serious poltical/social issues kinda bore me, but this post proves me wrong.

This post got me thinking, and yeah maybe it is true about the people that got left behind. It certainly gives one of the better explanations I’ve heard about the current state of hip hop. But then again, maybe its not totally true. I mean surely guys like Jay-Z and Nas were “left behind” and ended up in the projects for whatever reason but they made deep music. Now the people who were left behind are making the minstrel rap, but aren’t they in the same position as Jay or Nas once were in?

As far as the black kids who do well in school, its such an interesting point it deserves its own post. But I must admit I’ve thrown a “oreo” line here and there at people before. I don’t know what right in this situation. We all know that the “uncle tom” argument is in the mist there, but then again there’s nothing wrong with doing well in school and in life in general. I can’t even reach a conclusion as to what I think is right, but I gota say its a serious discussion that needs to be had.

Ive always said this in 2000 and beyond the most important issue in the Black Community should be, What is Blackness?-Far too often blackness is grouped together with all the negative shit, so when u have those middle class blacks who have kids, they think being authentic is being “hood”. They dont realize that ppl in the hood will do anything to get to their position and some ppl in the burbs will do anything to act like they are from the hood. Its f’ed up how that works

M.Garvey

Black=poor, uneducated, more prone to committ crimes

White= every f*ckin good in the world

People got to reverse this thinking, its self hatred. Many of our brothers and sisters are movin into the middle and upper class, but their kids think they got to tell people they live in Harlem instead of Riverdale. Everyone takes about success, but when it happens people throw out words like coon, sellout, white. Your Damned if you do, Damned if you dont.

The DJ Formerly Known as N-CREDIBLE

thoreauly77 Says:

June 15th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
“Remember this BOL, no matter how much education you get, no matter how much money you get, no matter how much you kiss white folks azz, you still a nigga.”

hey igno, when I say “you still a nigga”…I mean in their eyes…the school system, colleges, corporations, government…ALL RAN by whites…my people will only experience true freedom and equality once we detach ourselves from a system that has used us since slavery to this day…we must be indendent in our thinkin and actions…

Juice

“Keep thinking like this and you’ll always be a nigga with no education and no money.”

^^^

Racist, stereotypical garbage.

thatwhitedude,

By definition, all Black people are niggas. From your comments alone, it looks like you’re taking the narrow sighted and misguided view that most of America takes on issues like this.

The way you live as an individual doesn’t mean a thing. The fact that your parents are middle-class and Black, doesn’t mean a thing. By definition, if you’re Black, you’re a nigga. Your father is a nigga. And your father’s father – nigga too. And your children, they’ll be niggas. There is no true difference between uncle Bol’s and the Blacks who live in lesser conditions.

Second of all, on education, formal education is designed to crush the hearts of many of the future intellectuals who would be more than willing to put paid to the current system. American education is anti-intellectual in general.

Scholars on the subject of education, already know that what is most important for a child’s, or young adult’s, development is the social circumstances outside of school. This includes the homelife. It includes the life that the children and adolescents see transpiring around them on the streets. The learning really takes place in the school yard, rather than in the classroom.

None of my words are to refute that Blacks are underachieving. But we must look at all the reasons why they not living up to their potential. It’s easy to throw the blame upon those who are being oppressed. Blacks most definitely should strive to be educated. But then we need to analyze what education actually is.

thatwhitedude

“Hip hop has always been viewed as the voice of those who society has left behind. Well…maybe now it has become the voice of those still left behind out of those originally left behind.”

very interesting points Cinsere…

The DJ Formerly Known as N-CREDIBLE

thatwhitedude Says:

June 15th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
The DJ Formerly Known as N-CREDIBLE Says:
June 15th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
“Remember this BOL, no matter how much education you get, no matter how much money you get, no matter how much you kiss white folks azz, you still a nigga.”
^^^^^^^^
Keep thinking like this and you’ll always be a nigga with no education and no money.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
keep acknowledging the fact that racism still exist…not a problem…will do…

Main thing is, Bol and this Harvard study (one of the top schools in the world mind you, I doubt their study is as BS as yall would LOVE to think) make a lot of good points, but like all things that point out that black people have themselves to blame more than “the system”, black people will just ignore it and call it BS cause they don’t want to accept the fact that one of the biggest things holding them back nowadays is themselves and their whole “identity” as a race, including hip-hop.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
So we dont have slave owners to blame for our current identity crisis…do you honestly believe that we puposely changed our names, erased traces of our legacy, and inherited the white man’s religion…a majority of our problems stem from this very FACT…we don’t know who we were are who we are…the effects of slavery and racism are still in full stride…our grace from the Most High was taken away because we did not keep our covenant…that is why the white man conquered us during slavery and continues to oppress us and this world to this day…it is whites who stole our science and practices and called it their own…the white man is the biggest liar, killer, and deceiver of this world…America (Mystery Babylon) has so much blood on its hands its rediculous…that stinch is rising to the heavens and the Most High is pissed…but everything will have its time…as it was in the beggining, so shall it be in the end…the first shall be last and the last shall be first…it will be easier for a camel to fit through a needle hole then it will be for a rich (material wealth) man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven…

All praise to Yahweh

thatwhitedude

The DJ Formerly Known as N-CREDIBLE Says:
June 15th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
“my people will only experience true freedom and equality once we detach ourselves from a system that has used us since slavery to this day…we must be indendent in our thinkin and actions…”

^^^^^^^^
your people???? when the F do you ever hear a white dude saying shit like that? or even hispanics or asians? its THAT kind of thinking and talking where black people seperate themselves from everyone else in society that has yall where yall are now, at the fucking bottom of the totem pole… the main problem with you is your thinking of the world is all fucked up, you talk like a kid who was brainwashed by their parents, who never went anywhere in life cause of this very thinking, you are never going anywhere in life thinking like this man, plain and fucking simple… stop seperating yourself and using your skin color as the excuse for everything, welcome to 2007, that shit doesn’t really work anymore and you’re getting NOONE’s fucking sympathy cept from people that are thinking the same backwards ass ways you are, i mean if you really wanna “detach” yourself from this “system” that you think is so fucked up, then get the fuck outta here and go back to africa or something, see how well it goes there, i fucking swear some of “yall” love to act like you are so oppressed and shit and don’t realize that that excuse doesn’t work anymore, it did maybe 20 yrs ago, but DEF not anymore, i guarantee you thinking like that you will always stay at the bottom, which works for you in the end cuz then you can just go “see i told you so! they are oppressing us and keeping us at the bottom!” when in reality all you got to blame is yourself, makes me laugh man, good luck with all that haha

thatwhitedude

“So we dont have slave owners to blame for our current identity crisis…do you honestly believe that we puposely changed our names, erased traces of our legacy, and inherited the white man’s religion…a majority of our problems stem from this very FACT…we don’t know who we were are who we are…the effects of slavery and racism are still in full stride…our grace from the Most High was taken away because we did not keep our covenant…that is why the white man conquered us during slavery and continues to oppress us and this world to this day…it is whites who stole our science and practices and called it their own…the white man is the biggest liar, killer, and deceiver of this world…America (Mystery Babylon) has so much blood on its hands its rediculous…that stinch is rising to the heavens and the Most High is pissed…but everything will have its time…as it was in the beggining, so shall it be in the end…the first shall be last and the last shall be first…it will be easier for a camel to fit through a needle hole then it will be for a rich (material wealth) man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven…

All praise to Yahweh ”

SERIOUSLY MAN…ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!?!? HOW MUCH CRACK DID YOU SMOKE? YOU ARE TOO FAR GONE! if you seriously hate it all so much, then get the fuck out! like you said you aren’t supposed to be here in the first place right? cuz “we” stole yall from yall’s homeland right? so just make it all right again and go back to africa, noone in their right fuckin mind would want to live there man..i feel bad for you now man, you are seriously a very SAD SAD MAN.

The DJ Formerly Known as N-CREDIBLE

M.Garvey Says:

June 15th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Black=poor, uneducated, more prone to committ crimes

White= every f*ckin good in the world

People got to reverse this thinking, its self hatred. Many of our brothers and sisters are movin into the middle and upper class, but their kids think they got to tell people they live in Harlem instead of Riverdale. Everyone takes about success, but when it happens people throw out words like coon, sellout, white. Your Damned if you do, Damned if you dont.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^6
tell me…what good does it do when you get a lil success but your fellow brother is still struggling…this is the problem I have with my people who gain a lil something something…they forget the (their) struggle and where they came from…instead of moving to a gated community why not build smack dead in the middle of the troubled areas…dont turn your back on the problems…

Juice

“Keep thinking like this and you’ll always be a nigga with no education and no money.”

^^
Racist, stereotypical garbage.

By definition, all Black people are niggas. The way you live as an individual doesn’t mean a thing. The fact that your parents are middle-class and Black, doesn’t mean a thing. By definition, you’re still a nigga. Your father is a nigga. And your father’s father — nigga too. And your children, they’ll be niggas. There is no true difference between the uncle Bol’s and the Blacks who live in lesser conditions.

And furthermore, being educated in the American system does not secure Black success. It most definitely does assist in some ways. Unfortunately, formal education is designed to crush the hearts of many of the future intellectuals who would be more than willing to put paid to the current system.

Scholars on the subject of education, already know that what is most important for a child’s, or young adult’s, development is the social circumstances outside of school. This includes the homelife. It includes the life that the children and adolescents see transpiring around them on the streets. The learning really takes place in the school yard, rather than in the classroom.

None of my words are to refute that Blacks are underachieving. But we must look at all the reasons why they’re not living up to their potential. It’s easy to throw the blame upon those who are being oppressed. Blacks most definitely should strive to be educated. But then we need to analyze what education actually is. If your idea of success is: Do well in the American education system, get a diploma, and take your place in the Middle class workforce, working to get rich white men richer. Then you believe that with all vigor. But if you think that will remedy the current problems within the Black race, you’re wrong.

Another thing, why do all my comments remain “awaiting for moderation”? Why do the moderators keep deleting my comments? I’m not saying anything offensive, I’m adding to the topic at hand.

meenstreek

A white dude saying go back to Africa, now thats original.

Juice

“Keep thinking like this and you’ll always be a nigga with no education and no money.”

^^
Racist, stereotypical garbage.

By definition, all Black people are niggas. The way you live as an individual doesn’t mean a thing. The fact that your parents are middle-class and Black, doesn’t mean a thing. By definition, you’re still a nigga. Your father is a nigga. And your father’s father — nigga too. And your children, they’ll be niggas. There is no true difference between the uncle Bol’s and the Blacks who live in lesser conditions.

And furthermore, Being educated in the American system does not secure Black success. It most definitely does assist in some ways. Unfortunately, formal education is designed to crush the hearts of many of the future intellectuals who would be more than willing to put paid to the current system.

Scholars on the subject of education, already know that what is most important for a child’s, or young adult’s, development is the social circumstances outside of school. This includes the homelife. It includes the life that the children and adolescents see transpiring around them on the streets. The learning really takes place in the school yard, rather than in the classroom.

None of my words are to refute that Blacks are underachieving. But we must look at all the reasons why they not living up to their potential. It’s easy to throw the blame upon those who are being oppressed. Blacks most definitely should strive to be educated. But then we need to analyze what education actually is. If your idea of success is: Do well in the American education system, get a degree, and take your place in the Middle class workforce, working to get rich white men richer. Then you believe that with all vigor. But if you think that will remedy the current problems within the Black race, you’re wrong.

Another thing, why do all my comments remain “awaiting for moderation”? Why do the moderators keep deleting my comments? I’m not saying anything offensive, I’m adding to the topic at hand.

thatwhitedude

#
meenstreek Says:

June 15th, 2007 at 3:20 pm

A white dude saying go back to Africa, now thats original.
^^^^^^^
A black dude (not you, DJ N-Sane mind you) whining about shit that occurred decades ago and using that as an excuse for their shitty place in life, while every other race that has ever been oppressed has gotten past it and made something of themselves and rose in society, now THAT’S ORIGNAL! Same shit, different toliet. He was alluding to going back anyways, I was just simply telling him to do it. He sounds like all the people that said they would move to Canada if Bush was elected president, then once it happened they never actually did it.

According to the 2003 U.S. Census report, the median White income was $45,572, while the median for Blacks was $29,689. And although 10.5% of Whites in America were statistically in poverty, the percentage of Blacks in poverty was 24.4%.

http://xxlmag.com The General

Whoever thinks being smart is un-popular is the dumbest nigger I have ever seen and unfortunately spoke to. This is why today’s youth is so fucked up. I tell my lil bro and all of his homies that all of the O.G.’s that created movements, MOB bosses, and etc. were very intelligent they just decided to participate in organized crimes, and gangs. I believe BOL has hit the nail on the head with this post because the fact remains that blacks in general have the lowest percentage of Highschool graduates in the nation but of course the highest percentage in jails across the country. I’m not preaching because at times I feed into the ignorance, but hey at least I admit it.

June 15th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
The DJ Formerly Known as N-CREDIBLE Says:
June 15th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
“my people will only experience true freedom and equality once we detach ourselves from a system that has used us since slavery to this day…we must be indendent in our thinkin and actions…”

^^^^^^^^
your people???? when the F do you ever hear a white dude saying shit like that? or even hispanics or asians? its THAT kind of thinking and talking where black people seperate themselves from everyone else in society that has yall where yall are now, at the fucking bottom of the totem pole… the main problem with you is your thinking of the world is all fucked up, you talk like a kid who was brainwashed by their parents, who never went anywhere in life cause of this very thinking, you are never going anywhere in life thinking like this man, plain and fucking simple… stop seperating yourself and using your skin color as the excuse for everything, welcome to 2007, that shit doesn’t really work anymore and you’re getting NOONE’s fucking sympathy cept from people that are thinking the same backwards ass ways you are, i mean if you really wanna “detach” yourself from this “system” that you think is so fucked up, then get the fuck outta here and go back to africa or something, see how well it goes there, i fucking swear some of “yall” love to act like you are so oppressed and shit and don’t realize that that excuse doesn’t work anymore, it did maybe 20 yrs ago, but DEF not anymore, i guarantee you thinking like that you will always stay at the bottom, which works for you in the end cuz then you can just go “see i told you so! they are oppressing us and keeping us at the bottom!” when in reality all you got to blame is yourself, makes me laugh man, good luck with all that haha
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
your ignorance is evident…no need to point out the obvious…oh and by the way…FYI…no better yet I will use the words of Bow Wow given this is hip hop site…

“i probably make more than your dad”

I was one of the top people when I got my BS…I have a well paying job…I have a home and car…I am, as America calls it, “Living the American Dream”…that is exactly what it is…a dream based on falsehoods and capitalism…everything i touch turns to Gold…I am what you call gifted or blessed…I had to sit back and laugh at that foolishness…like this kid really has no clue…see me Im not the type to turn my back on MY PEOPLE…I represent a voice for those who cant speak…

naming yourself thatwhitedude clearly tells me you have a identiy crisis…tell me…when you look in the mirror…do you like what you see?

http://www.plasticsquirtguns.blogspot.com thoreauly77

n-cred. it’s funny because when i made that comment i didn’t even realize it was you that wrote it, i was just responding to something that was n-credibly stupid. i can give you credit for one thing though and it’s your consistency — you are n-credibly consistent with your n-consistencies.

Juice

“Keep thinking like this and you’ll always be a nigga with no education and no money.”

^^
Racist, stereotypical garbage.

I love it how ‘thatwhitedude’ is geting all his narrow-sighted and misguided opinions posted, but I get all mine deleted and forever ‘awaiting moderation’. I’m not saying anything offensive, I’m adding to the topic at hand. Stop deleting my comments.

Anyway, by definition, all Black people are niggas. The way you live as an individual doesn’t mean a thing. The fact that your parents are middle-class and Black, doesn’t mean a thing. By definition, you’re still a nigga. Your father is a nigga. And your father’s father — nigga too. And your children, they’ll be niggas. There is no true difference between the uncle Bol’s and the Blacks who live in lesser conditions.

And furthermore, Being educated in the American system does not secure Black success. It most definitely does assist in some ways. Unfortunately, formal education is designed to crush the hearts of many of the future intellectuals who would be more than willing to put paid to the current system.

Scholars on the subject of education, already know that what is most important for a child’s, or young adult’s, development is the social circumstances outside of school. This includes the homelife. It includes the life that the children and adolescents see transpiring around them on the streets. The learning really takes place in the school yard, rather than in the classroom.

None of my words are to refute that Blacks are underachieving. But we must look at all the reasons why they not living up to their potential. It’s easy to throw the blame upon those who are being oppressed. Blacks most definitely should strive to be educated. But then we need to analyze what education actually is. If your idea of success is: Do well in the American education system, get a degree, and take your place in the Middle class workforce, working to get rich white men richer. Then you believe that with all vigor. But if you think that will remedy the current problems within the Black race, you’re wrong.

The DJ Formerly Known as N-CREDIBLE

SERIOUSLY MAN…ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!?!? HOW MUCH CRACK DID YOU SMOKE? YOU ARE TOO FAR GONE! if you seriously hate it all so much, then get the fuck out! like you said you aren’t supposed to be here in the first place right? cuz “we” stole yall from yall’s homeland right? so just make it all right again and go back to africa, noone in their right fuckin mind would want to live there man..i feel bad for you now man, you are seriously a very SAD SAD MAN.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
go back to Africa…if that is the case everyone in the world should go there because that is where life started…America or any other land does not belong to any race…this everyones world…go back to africa…yeah right…detachment does not mean relocate…

Im sure what I am presenting is going over your head and limited thinking but continue on you ignoramus

http://www.myspace.com/shoduction sam

I find it hilarious that there is a regular commenter that goes by “these posts are racist.”

http://www.fuckbol.com Fuck thatwhitedude

thatwhitedude is the most fucking racist person on xxl.com. (5% of the people who opressed white people were white people you faggot. Why are you a white person on a hip hop website if you white people are better than minorities you bitch ass motherfucker. I feel like beating down sum white kids now

these posts are racist

–I find it hilarious that there is a regular commenter that goes by “these posts are racist.”

Your momma, trick.

thatwhitedude

your ignorance is evident…no need to point out the obvious…oh and by the way…FYI…no better yet I will use the words of Bow Wow given this is hip hop site…

“i probably make more than your dad”

I was one of the top people when I got my BS…I have a well paying job…I have a home and car…I am, as America calls it, “Living the American Dream”…that is exactly what it is…a dream based on falsehoods and capitalism…everything i touch turns to Gold…I am what you call gifted or blessed…I had to sit back and laugh at that foolishness…like this kid really has no clue…see me Im not the type to turn my back on MY PEOPLE…I represent a voice for those who cant speak…

naming yourself thatwhitedude clearly tells me you have a identiy crisis…tell me…when you look in the mirror…do you like what you see?
^^^^^^^^^
this is DEF not the place to basically argue on “who is richer”, and believe me i am rich and blessed and all that great stuff that you accuse the white man of being, however i do find it funny that you talk shit about the whole “system” and talk about how messed up it is and how skewed it is against black people while making it easy for whites, yet you also claim to live the american dream, how did you get to this position if with this mindset? i mean do you present your ideas and thoughts in the real world as you do on this website? do you say these things to your most likely “white devil” bosses and superiors in the business world? did you ramble on like an idiot about babylon and the convenant and slavery still affecting you to your professors at your university? and if so how do they not think you are as insane as i think you are? unless you went to an all black college, which seems sorta likely based on your hatred for the white man, and work at an all black company or am self employed (and if you are self employed you DEF make way less than my dad who pulls in 7 figures btw but that’s besides the fact) i don’t see how you went thru life and made it to the “american dream” without somehow compromising your insane beliefs and outlook on society in america, which leads me to believe you basically “sold out” to get where you are and went against your “black power” beliefs and played the subservient black man to the “white master” to make it so you could have a good life. and now you look back on all your “brothers and sisters” who don’t have it as good as you and you feel bad that you sold out to get where you are and they are still struggling…which comes to the final conclusion that I am not the one that has a problem with the person i see in the mirror, you are! and fyi i made the name “thatwhitedude” cuz that’s basically all you see me as right? just another white dude who has it easy in life and doesn’t know of all your hardships etc etc. so i basically just gave myself the name that i was already assigned by the mostly black hip-hop community, i don’t see where the identity crisis is at all and i def have no feelings of guilt or disdain at seeing white skin in the mirror as you love to think, cause you DEF would love to think a white man hates himself for being white, cause that IS what you want after all in the end isn’t it?

Cinsere

Whitedude, you should be very glad this is only the internet…lol. I’m actually mad that you cosigned my comment, considering the bullshit you went on to say. Best believe, I do not blame the mentally oppressed for their way of thinking. My point was that, while some 15-20 years ago there might have been more gifted street poets in the hood, their modern counterparts may not feel themselves “stuck” in those hoods. Perhaps they realize their intellectual talent and have figured out other ways out of the hood besides trying to make it as a rapper (or, of course, a ballplayer). Those not as intellectually gifted…well…they still wanna rap…and they’re just not as good.

However…you are a FOOL if you think that it is siad people’s fault that they are stuck in the hood. Yes, people should take responsibility for their lives, but so should the system who’s actions and disregard for human decency has PUT those people IN these hoods. Best believe that now, more than ever, these kids aren’t rapping because of a love for hip hop. They are rapping because they feel it’s their only ticket out! And they portray the images that they do because they feel it’s the only images that will give them a chance as an artist. The hood mentality, that was conceived by the mating of an oppresive system and a depressed state of mind, is being sold right back to them, and that shit is no accident!

Do you think it’s an ACCIDENT that there is NEVER any development in the hood?! That while they’re fixing up 5th Avenue AGAIN so that it can look nice and pretty for the rich folks and the tourists, most of the Bronx STILL looks exactly as fucked up as it always has?! That there’s been SO much development in the “nice” areas that there is no place left other THAN the hood…so they develop expensive co-op’s and townhouses that the poor people there have NO chance of affording, leaving less places that they can actually afford to live?! Do you think the white people that run this whole fucking country don’t know what the fuck they’re doing when they kick poor people out of they’re homes through eminent domain so that they can build a fucking STADIUM?! Or a MALL?! Or a parking lot FOR a mall?! Is it REALLY an accident that the richest 10% of people own 90% of America’s captial wealth?!?!! NO!!! That shit ain’t no accident, you fucking dumb-ass!!! This country was BUILT off the blood and sweat of slaves…for CENTURIES! And because there’s been a few decades in which blacks have been LEGALLY considered “equal,” then it’s all good?!?!! Fuck outta here!!! The adverse effects of centuries of slavery, segregation, and out and out bigotry are CLEARLY still evident today!!! Why are there so many black people in the hood?! Cuz they’re fucking POOR!!! Why are they poor?! Because after CENTURIES, they have only RECENTLY been given the opportunity to get a FRACTION of the 10% of money left that is not held by WHITE, CORPORATE AMERICA!!! You wanna talk about ass-backwards thinking?! Expecting people to catch up in a race that they’ve been held back in for so FUCKING long, and then asking them why they’re so far behind…like YOU don’t know how the fucking race started, muthafucka!!! People in the hood are OPpressed and DEpressed!!! You don’t have to be a historian, sociologist, or psychologist to figure that shit out! It’s as plain as can be! If you don’t see it, it’s cuz you don’t want to!

One

The DJ Formerly Known as N-CREDIBLE

Thank you CINCERE. I was going to respond to that ignorance but you couldn’t have done it any better. This is the first time I heard someone speak up on this site and speak the truth along with standing up for truth (columnist included).

Willie Blak

Great post, Bol. There is a high level of truth to those studies. As a person who struggled most of my teen years to find a perfect balance between my intellectual self and my “blaccent”, as you appropriately deemed it, I know what it means to kind of downplay your genius in hopes of gettin some ass. Props to you and continue to do your job homie.

Latino Thug

So we “lack of reading comprehension skills”, just because we don’t always agree with the bullshit you write?!!, ain’t that a bitch!!, so i guess we’re too stupid for yo ass ha!!.

Bol’s blog

Hey Bryon Crawford

Has anybody ever told you that you look like a gay version of Lupe Fiasco? You guys could be brothers or lovers…what ever your into too

beeyo

Congrats Bol, you got em thinking.

Malik C.

We need more giant blocks of texts. Paragraphs are the “white man’s” doing.

Fastlife

Since when is Condi Rice lightskinned?

allnice

I think young black kids emulate these rap stars because they think these bags are making money and living it up. I think most bright kids are smart enough to figure out that you won’t make jack shit even with a college diploma unless you hustle and try to start some kind of a business. The problem is that most of these rap cats are not making any serious paper, but these kids don’t have any other positive role models.

Another main problem is that people in general do not know what to achieve. Bill Gates wants to put a computer in every home while most people just want to make a few million dollars. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X weren’t rich, but they had dreams that came true for all of us. Unless you are trying to accomplish something that lasts for centuries and positively affects everyone, you are an underachiever.

N.O. 4 life

I haven’t posted here in a while beacuse yall have not inspired me to do so until now….first i aint a damn refugee keep that out your mouth…the problem isn’t hip hop itself that is leading these middle class blacks to failure its the fact that hip hop is leading period…there isnt a single thing outside of a rapper,athlete or actor(a former rapper) that can inspire a young black man because that is the only time a black man will see another black man that is similar to him….n-cred your lost if you dont believe there is a system to keep most blacks trapped…let me explain, people with a lack of reading comprehension or poor education in general tend to have an less successful life.who recieves the poorest education?inner city youth.who are the inner city youth?blacks.
who controls the school systems in the inner cities?the government?who controls the government?not black people.

http://www.plasticsquirtguns.blogspot.com thoreauly77

n-cred- take some notes from cinsere; he speaks the truth. you however, regurgitate ideas instead of stating solutions. at some point, we all get tired of that shit. i commend your stance (minus the whole chauvinistic aspect), but you need to keep that shit thoreau, er, thorough. otherwise, that fall from a very high soapbox may be very painful.

and for the record: whitedude, you are not “speaking the truth” or any such nonsense. you are speaking your truth, and there is a very big difference. all voices in hear need to be heard, whether any of us agree with each other or not. the whole “i have been designated a white dude and that is what i am” is so limiting it’s ridiculous. do yourself a favor and meet some black people. and not on the interwebs.

doctor69

good post bol I agree that most dudes get less respect being smart then being a coon aka thug when I came up in bville bk my class had the hightest reading and math scores in the state even made the daily news lucky we where tall otherwise we would have got smacked up a lot all the dudes who didn’t like us are now doing near life sentences or dead or are smoked out . Now there kids who know the rockstar or bitch set songs more then basic math and reading danny showed to me he’s bunz and will be the future dude on the corner begging for looseys or a quarter guess Bill Cosby was right .

http://myspace.com/djmainevent DJ Main Event

Big up to everyone who posted on here for better or worse. I especially liked the race metaphor by Cinsere in that last paragraph.

That being said… what needs to be done is really simple. Get out there, disregard everyone else’s standards and opinions like you’re SUPPOSED to fail @ life just because you were born different from the next person and DO SOMETHING POSITIVE IN YOUR LIFE. Stop inheriting your parents beef. The ‘whiteguy’ made a valid point when he was saying to let the shit go.

Seriously. The self-hate will eat you alive in the end. And if that doesn’t work, you can still give up and get fucked over due to you not doing anything about your situation from day-to-day and wondering why shit doesn’t work out for you. I’m just saying.

Now as for the kids getting teased in school because they’re conveniently NOT stupid… Sticks and Stones. I know you’re supposed to seek other people’s approval @ some point in your life but we gotta teach these kids limits to that. Better yet, just dead that shit as soon as it comes up like ‘if they want you to lower yourself to their level, then you really shouldn’t be hanging around them in the FIRST PLACE.’ just saying. take responsibility for your actions because no one else will or will care to.

pedostyle

more than sad, it’s embarassign what black ppl in america are doing to themselves. It is by far the country with the MOSt opportunities for those of african background, and by far the most underachieving. Black people are making moves everywhere else, going strong and doing the race proud. (of course there’s still the impoverished and jsut silly, but far less). From europe, to australia, and of course in africa, i have friends in all those places and we’re getting our education and doing our thing. African americans, clean up your fukn act and do something decent for your children’s sake. believe it or not, you can still listen to, make, and love hip hop with a degree, a family and a job.

Lili

“What do you ‘bags think? Is Harvard University making this shit up, or do reasonably well-off black kids purposely underachieve so as to get some pussy? Both?”

If you want to talk about middle class Black kids emulating what they see in the hood when it comes to attire, etc…sure they do! Who doesn’t?? White, Black, Latino, Asian, whatever…Everybody wants to project the image of their favorite rapper.

But shiiit…I don’t know what well-off Black kids they polled/studied, but none of the kids I know messed themselves up by trying to emulate what they saw on tv.
THAT’S THE DIFFERENCE.

Granted, I was in a sheltered environment in my (prep) high-school, like a few other kids I know, so we didn’t deal with the whole “being smart is acting White” thing…but I dealt with a bit of that in grade school and didn’t pay it any mind because really…how could it ever be cool to be mediocre or fall below the line mediocrity?

Point being, if you have parents in the household doing well enough to expose you to a life of access or attaining access, you usually don’t fuck up THAT badly in school or life.

Now, that isn’t to say I haven’t known a few girls from middle class families who got caught up and popped out babies in high school, or that I don’t have boys who spent a little too much time smoking at some point in high school or college, but at the end of the day if you’re exposed to what life has to offer, you will usually make some sort of effort to attain your goals.

If a kid has at least one parent at home raising them right, seeing Cam’ron yapping bout some “DipSet all day everyday” on tv isn’t going to make him start getting all D’s and F’s because

a) he/she knows that image isn’t reality, or at least it isn’t theirs
b) his/her parents will beat that ass

It starts in the home…Always remember that.

“I remember reading about this a few years ago and wondering how true that was, really.”

^^I’m with you here, Bol. I’m sure there are Black kids dealing with kids picking on them for doing well in school, but I doubt it’s happening in middle class/upper-middle class environments.

In the inner-cities, yes. But not where the “well-off” kids are.

But at the end of the day…bump the haters. If my parents are successful and flossing, what the hell am I worried about what kids at school have to say?

The sooner kids learn that doing well in school= more stability and a better life (monetarily, anyway) THE BETTER.

Lili

Why are there so many black people in the hood?! Cuz they’re fucking POOR!!! Why are they poor?! Because after CENTURIES, they have only RECENTLY been given the opportunity to get a FRACTION of the 10% of money left that is not held by WHITE, CORPORATE AMERICA!!! You wanna talk about ass-backwards thinking?! Expecting people to catch up in a race that they’ve been held back in for so FUCKING long, and then asking them why they’re so far behind…like YOU don’t know how the fucking race started, muthafucka!!! People in the hood are OPpressed and DEpressed!!! You don’t have to be a historian, sociologist, or psychologist to figure that shit out! It’s as plain as can be! If you don’t see it, it’s cuz you don’t want to!

One

^^Thaaaank you! I wish I could have articulated this as well as you did when I was in high school. We (the few Black girls) would be having it out with them White kids trying to say the playing field is leveled because of 40 or so years of “equality”.

“Whitedude” needs to hear it, but he’ll never listen.

Lili

Cinsere: “Why are there so many black people in the hood?! Cuz they’re fucking POOR!!! Why are they poor?! Because after CENTURIES, they have only RECENTLY been given the opportunity to get a FRACTION of the 10% of money left that is not held by WHITE, CORPORATE AMERICA!!! You wanna talk about ass-backwards thinking?! Expecting people to catch up in a race that they’ve been held back in for so FUCKING long, and then asking them why they’re so far behind…like YOU don’t know how the fucking race started, muthafucka!!! People in the hood are OPpressed and DEpressed!!! You don’t have to be a historian, sociologist, or psychologist to figure that shit out! It’s as plain as can be! If you don’t see it, it’s cuz you don’t want to!”

^^They need to hear it, but they’ll never listen.

v

bol what does ur bicth ass think about jay making 83 mill last year alone?

http://web.mac.com/angeliquemwila ANGELIQUE

These are the things that black people should spend their time talkin about, and thinkin on. that way no one can say that ‘we’ dumb ass niggas. Aint no one gonna change nothing for us, so if u wanna see somethin done, and perceptions altered, it aint gonna happen unless You Change wat u letting them perceive. want them so knw that blak people are doing somethin?….then get more blak people to do somethin..
nullus.

Donin

“Best believe that now, more than ever, these kids aren’t rapping because of a love for hip hop. They are rapping because they feel it’s their only ticket out! And they portray the images that they do because they feel it’s the only images that will give them a chance as an artist. The hood mentality, that was conceived by the mating of an oppresive system and a depressed state of mind, is being sold right back to them”
—————————————

Good Shit Cinsere!

Please, unless if u really love Hip Hop, don’t rap. It’s that simple. I’m not saying “Don’t Breathe!” In a figurative manner. Just find a positive way in getting out your dreams.

Children these days needs parents. Not just black people, but all the children in America need Father’s, need Mother’s. If there was stable family in these households, children would not be hung up on some of these so called “Hip Hop Artists” (A certain few can fit in that category).

But that doesn’t exists. It’s really sad people. Black time is running out.

Drew

If it’s true that overachieving black kids in high school aren’t as popular as their underachieving counterparts, then I think it’s important that someone illustrates to them the true, long-term significance of “high school popularity.” I’m in college now, and it just so happens that a bunch of the kids who were the most popular in high school are the most f*cked up now. More of the less popular, low-key kids, have started to find their social niches and found happiness within their friend groups.

So in conclusion, I think black kids in high school DEFINITELY shouldn’t compensate achievement for popularity, becuase there IS life after high school. A whole hell lot of it.

Btw, you’re my hero Bol.

~ Drew

Cracka Ass Cracka

this thread was actually fairly intelligent (a first for the kids on this site) until El DJ gave it a severe case of pseudo-intellectual retarditis.

http://xxlmag.com ceedubb

what the fuck happens to the kid who actually is white? born in 87 and living in the south being poor as fuck. told his whole life that he dont know shit, that his folks are the ones who have caused all of this pain and hardship. all of that shit is nonsense. every one out there wants to point their fuckin finger and blame. im only 20 years old and I know for a fact that ive never done a single thing to help contribute to holding ANYONE down. we’re all dealing with the same bullshit the question is what can you do for yourself?

Pancho

all i wanna say is….

wanting to stay in poverty because it’s the cool thing to do = BULLSHIT

Wanting to do everything in your power to move out of the hood and live a successful life = TRUTH

Drew

“I know for a fact that ive never done a single thing to help contribute to holding ANYONE down”

– CEEDUBB

That may be true, but white people have an inherited advantage over black people, even if they NEVER openly promote racism. White people rarely ever:

* Have others lock their car doors when they walk by, just because of the color of their skin.
* Immediately get stereotyped when shopping at a discount grocery store.
* Have the entire profile of their race put on their shoulders.

And there’s even more. It’s great when white people discourage racism, but I still feel it’s important to know that they have an inherited social advantage over all other races (not just black people), from the moment they’re born.

I’m white, btw.

Real Talk

Anonymous Says:

June 15th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I actually agree with Bol. Black students from middle to upper class backgrounds attempt to dumb themselves down in order to conform to hip hop culture. In hip hop culture doing well in school isn’t even mentioned. Its all about getting girls and defending your masculinity. Its a problem that may lead to the demise of black leadership and growth. If our leaders are percieved as hip hop “stars” that invoke these academic problems for students how can we grow as a people with a degraded social atmosphere.

C/S I cant tell you how many people I know from two parent backgrounds like mine fcuked around and barely made it through highschool and never even tried to go to college becuase they were trying too hard to “keep it real” now all these niccas are stil livin with there parents, or sponging off they baby mamma.

thatwhitedude

cinsere did say the most real shit on here, and dj n-cred imo is insane… i shouldn’t of tried to argue with an insane person cuz in the end i think i came out lookin insane as well… props to cinsere though, i DO get a lot of what he was saying, although it might not appear that way on a blog, hopefully more of the xxl blogs in the future will encourage thinking and discussion like this one did.

Fernando

TPAR got used and abused by Bol.

Ha Ha

Not to mention that your statistics really dont show anyhting. They have no correlation to each other and really dont form any kind of relevant argument. Step it up buddy. If Bol gets the best of you, you are one stupid mofo.

Showned

whew… well that was a %$&#*#*$ mouthfull to read and think about

The Other White Dude

Ok. I wasn’t going to say anything on this, but I think I’m going to have to. I know exactly what’s going to happen. I’m going to make my point and you’re all going to call me racist and close-minded. 1, I’m not racist. 2, I grew up in the most liberal part of the country (Humboldt County). Definitely NOT close-minded.

Well, here we go…I grew up in the welfare projects. My single mother raised two kids, worked three jobs, and still had to go many days without eating. I KNOW poor. I’ve been there. But guess what? I’m not poor anymore. My wife and I are firmly middle class, and my brother is upper-middle class. Why? Because we’re white? NO! Because we worked hard, were willing to take the bad with the good, and set our minds on our goals.

Are blacks incapable of this? Of course not. Is it impossible for blacks to do this? Of course not. So why, then, are you all saying that “society” is holding the blacks back? That it’s the fault of slavery (right..I’m irish and cherokee indian, you really want to start talking slavery?) that you can’t get a decent job?

If you flunk out of High School, I’m sorry, I don’t care what race you are, IT’S YOUR FAULT. Study harder next time, man. You can’t get that “dream job”? Suck it up, baby, and get the minimum wage crap job for a while. Everyone does. It’s a fact of life.

The american dream falls into no lap, white black green yellow purple or otherwise. It’s a goal you have to work for. Stop whining about your race holding you back, stop saying things like “my people”, stop blaming others for racism all the while spouting some of the most racist things I’ve ever read, and maybe…just maybe…you’ll start to see those opportunities and situations you always over-looked before.

That’s my two cents. Take it or leave it. Oh, and if you’re going to reply just to call me a racist…save it, you’ll only be affirming my accusations.